A Bit More Exploration…

…as the last day of our exploration of the Delmarva Peninsula wound down this past September, we took one more drive along the back roads in Talbot County near St. Michaels Maryland.  We’ve always been inclined to visit out of the way places and those ‘at the end of the road’ tend to be our favorites.

In this case, we continued following MD Hwy 33 west from St. Michaels toward Chesapeake Bay and then south when it follows the coast down to Tilghman Island.  

This is St. John’s Chapel on Tilghman Island.  It was built in 1891 at a cost of $2,000, but its history is a little complex.  The deed for the property shows that the original name was the “Lower Tilghman Methodist Episcopal Church, South”. 

The term ‘South” had a significant meaning.  John Wesley’s brand of Protestantism had spread quickly, especially among ‘working people’.  It was a less fatalistic alternative to Calvinism.  However, Wesley was an abolitionist and opposition to slavery was a problem in an area where some Methodists owned slaves.  In the end, many congregations broke away from the pro-Union parent church and formed a new “Conference”, the Methodist Episcopal Church South.  However, it is unclear how a congregation could have been split 25 years after the Civil War.  It may well have been because of a dispute between families...

This is an ongoing active church despite the population of Tilghman Island totaling only 807 residents.  In season though this is a low key but popular vacation spot for those living on the populous east shore of Chesapeake Bay.  Additionally, this appears to be a significant destination for weddings.  The chapel is located at 5160 Black Walnut Point Road.  Website: Holy Spirit Filled | St. John's Chapel | Tilghman (stjohnschapeltilghman.org).

We love little country stores.  The Tilghman Island Country Store has that ‘look’, doesn’t it?  It seems to serve many purposes.  It is a grocery store, a deli…complete with hot food items, it has beer, wine and liquor and it even has wine tastings in season.  They always offer local fresh seafood as one of their carry-out specials and in the winter oyster sandwiches and stew are favorites.  In warmer months it’s all about soft shell crab sandwiches, rockfish tenders and seafood chowder, but there are a variety of other items available as well.  The Tilghman Island Country Store is right on MD Hwy 33 on the island and you can’t miss it…

The store has 218 reviews on TripAdvisor…206 of which, (almost 95%) are either excellent or very good.  This Tilghman Island Country Store is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tilghmanislandcountrystore/.

This handsome and unusual structure is the Lee House.  It is one of 13 unique “W” houses built on the island and in nearby Sherwood MD, roughly between 1890 and 1900.  Named for the first residents, it remained in the family until the 1930s when it was inherited by “Miss Leona” who operated a popular fishing resort.  She used the home for overflow guests.  In 1984 it passed onto another family…standing vacant for a while…before being purchased by The Tilghman’s Watermen’s Museum in 2010.

The Tilghman Watermen’s Museum showcases the work and culture of the islands ‘watermen’ and their families.  The museum was initially focused on capturing on video and audio, stories and experiences of the watermen before the old way of life on the island completely disappeared.  The museum also collected art…the island attracts artists…then boat models, watermen’s tools, the ‘how to’ of netting, tonging, dredging, crabbing, etc.

I decided to have a look at the video that was put together by the museum.  It was shown on PBS and it surely shows a different era and a far different way of life.  I enjoyed it.  Check it out on Chesapeake Bay Week | Growing Up on Tilghman | PBS.  The Tilghman Watermen’s Museum will reopen for the season on 5/11/24.  To learn more, go to About us / Leadership - Tilghman Watermen's Museum (tilghmanmuseum.org)

Travelers encounter a lot of drawbridges along the Florida coastline but not so many this far north. (However, I did learn that there are 15 moveable bridges in Maryland) This bridge connects Tilghman Island with the mainland.  It is a ‘new’ bridge, having been built in 1998.  It bridges ‘Knapps Narrows’, the 42 foot wide channel that flows between Chesapeake Bay and the Choptank River. 

This ‘heel trunnion rolling lift bridge with a counterweight suspended above the roadway’ replaced a replaced an earlier ‘counterweight bascule span’ bridge, a portion of which is now on display at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels Maryland.  The ‘new’ bridge is in operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and it opens about 12,000 times a year...or more than one time per hour.  It used to open partially based on the size of the boat or boats passing through the Narrows but now they have to open it fully to reduce the strain on the structure.  In season, that extra time causes delays for locals and tourists alike.

Note: If you are 'into' sailing boats and ships, Tilghman Island is home to 10 Skipjacks that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  To learn more about these special vessels and to see some photos, go to Skipjack (boat) - Wikipedia.

This colorful and appropriate mural helped us enjoy the wait for the drawbridge to close again.  It’s painted on the side of the Phillips Wharf Environmental Center building.  This large display of public art celebrates the Tilghman Packing Company, the local watermen and the bounties of the Chesapeake Bay.  The mural was created by a well-known local artist, Michael Rosato and it was completed in the late spring of 2021.

FYI, Michael Rosato is based in Cambridge Maryland and his murals are stunning.  Learn more at Michael Rosato Studio.

Note: The Tilghman Packing Company was founded in 1897 in an oyster-shucking house on pilings on a steamboat wharf.  I grew to include multiple operations and to employ 600 people, the majority of men and women in the area.  It was the largest employer in Talbot County.  The company closed in 1975 and not a vestige of the company remains today.  A PBS video about the packing company can be viewed at MPT Presents | Til-Made, Remembering the Tilghman Packing Company | PBS.  It is a very interesting look into the not too distant past...

When we got back from Tilghman Island Bonnie and Bill were done for the day.  But Laurie and I ‘just had to’ check out a couple more back roads.  That’s when we came across the schoolhouse pictured above.  It’s located north of Easton Maryland on MD Hwy 662.

The “Little Red Schoolhouse” was also known as the Longwoods Elementary School and the Germantown Consolidated School.  It was one of the forty-three one-room school houses in Talbot County in 1865.  It remained in use until 1967.

In the early days, the school was heated through the use of a pot-bellied stove that was the responsibility of the teacher.  First through seventh grades were taught here…with young students at the front of the room and older students in the back.  Few schools teach geography these days but it was a key curriculum item for the children along with reading, writing, arithmetic and history.  Slates or small chalkboards were used by the students as paper was very expensive.  Electric lights were added in 1936 and indoor plumbing was installed in 1951…about when my better half was born. 

After the school was closed the Talbot County Historical Society restored the schoolhouse to its original condition, the outhouses were put back and the electric lights were removed.  To learn more, just go to Little Red School House | VisitMaryland.org.

That’s all for now…  Next up – “Dinner at a Diner”.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for Stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave